Of Monsters And Men
by purestheartslove
Summary: This is it, she thinks, she had evolved, chained down no longer. No one can hold her down anymore. She was no longer a tool in anyone's games , she's something everyone strives to be in this world. A perfect balance, Of Monsters And Men.'
1. Chapter 1

_hey, everyone here is my contribution to day two of klarolineauweek: butterfly effect. this will have a follow up I promise as I already have the rest of the plot mapped out._

 _warning: this is not your fluffy kind of story but I will not go as far as to say it's dark. It does however have dark-ish themes and power play between our faves. there's also what can be considered mind games._

 _I hope you'll enjoy. :D_

* * *

Her name is Caroline.

And she was seventeen when her world changed.

She remembers hospitals, pillows and choked breaths.

She remembers blood bags and a burning sun.

A stake to the heart and monster eyes.

A collateral damage killed in the crossfire between two worlds she didn't know existed by someone who was a mirror of her friend.

Everything that surrounded her was frightening, suffocating, soaked with a fear that gripped her and didn't want to let her go.

So she ran, god she ran so fast.

From a cold home and horror filled faces.

From a mother's disgusted eyes and her friends weary ones.

She ran so fast, until she couldn't run anymore.

And so she became trapped.

* * *

She often heard tales of beasts, of monsters trapped in men skin.

But she never suspected she would be one of those.

And she never thought she'd meet the strongest of them.

* * *

She never overvalued her worth, you know.

She knew exactly where she belonged.

To the hidden world, to the shadows.

'And collateral damage' her mind- her unmerciful mind- would never fail to remind her.

So when she was traded for the sake of a monster- one trapped in a man skin- a monster who once held her down and tied her to a silent world, empty of thoughts and control- she wasn't surprised.

And why would she.

She belonged to this world, not.

Still as she was left as a bargaining chip by her so called friend Stefan, she couldn't help sending him a betrayed look though in it there was a plea, she didn't ask for much,'just don't leave me' she begged

but the only thing she received in return was the words "I'm sorry Caroline".

And in the ends that's the only things she gets, the only thing she has left.

Words.

* * *

Her new captor was of different breed. She found out.

Hybrid he called himself, a mixture of wolf and vampire, two different breeds mixed in one being..

No hint of man that one.

"You'll call me Klaus" he had said, dismissively as if she was a servant or a slave "now love go on now and pack your bags we'll be leaving shortly"

She ignored her fire that burned with a fire that rivalled a thousand suns at his statement and the way he 'handled' her.

He thought he has rendered helpless, that having killed her -former- best friend in a sacrifice and tormented the others had made her scared and will keep her silent.

She scoffed.

Maybe Klaus had never encountered someone like her before, pity.

Because as the car passed the town limits her fire had never been stronger, and her fire had never burned brighter.

* * *

She had been caught. Again.

Klaus's grin was wide as ever as he caught sight of her trapped in his witch's spell.

"You know love, this game between us I am beginning to enjoy very much" he said as he caressed her cheeks almost lovingly- as if "pity the ripper had never told me such fire was in you, we could've had so much fun from the start"

In the background the witch chanted the spell of her freedom, but his eyes kept watching her in rapt fascination, capturing every detail, the wicked gleam in them never fading.

When the petite witch finished her spell, she stood uneasily, her legs quivering from the intensity of the magic that had imprisoned her, but she kept walking in the direction of their residence – _she'd never call it home, she never had one, not one that welcomed her_ _anyway_ \- mentally preparing her next escape already, however his voice momentarily stopped her.

"Don't forget sweetheart, there are only so many times you can escape"

She didn't reply merely continued on her path but as she walked her stance whispered one thing 'We shall see'.

'Why do you need hybrids?' she asked one day.

Her eyes followed the movement of his hands as they smoothly glided on the sketch book, the charcoal pencil creating soothing sounds as it made friction with the paper. It took a few moments for him to reply, his eyes darting every few seconds from the sketch to her, making it obvious that he was drawing her, though she didn't comment on it.

"there are things better left untold, Caroline".

She snorted.

"so what you're just going to drag me across the states on an anonymous journey?"

His eyes flickered to her again though it lingered longer this time, a hint of an emotion she couldn't name faintly appeared in them.

"anonymous journey, you say? what happened to all of the escape plans that are just waiting to be hatched".

Her eyes hardened at his mention of her failed attempts for freedom.

"Who's to say I don't have one right now"

An amused laugh burst out of him.

"try as many times as you want, your attempts at fleeing are too much entertaining for me to stop, as long as you remember that you can't escape"

"what if I already did". she said and Klaus's eyes flashed up to hers causing them to meet and, and again she saw that unnamed emotion though this time with, dare she say, confusion reflected in those big blue orbs of his.

For the first time Caroline saw a hint of man in those monster eyes.

* * *

They didn't mention that conversation after that.

And she didn't say out loud that the eyes she thought were monstrous turned out to be not quite so.

Because if Klaus isn't only just a monster how can she only just be not one?

* * *

Blood covered the floor, the gurgles of the red liquid choking her victim filled the air. On the other side of the room lay Stefan's greyed corpse with a hole where his heart should've been. Blood soaked his clothes from the many stakes that were thrusted into him, she played the body no attention however focusing on his companion instead, fangs ready and bared with veins crawling on her face, her monster came out, ready to hunt and play with her prey.

 ***flashback***

 **Hiking had seemed like a good idea when Klaus had told her they would have to take a path in the forest to reach one of the wolf packs he located but now she regretted agreeing to it. The weather was unbearable and although she couldn't feel the humidity in the air, it wasn't a nice feeling having her clothes sticking to her.**

 **She sighed "isn't there any water around here? I need to freshen up"**

" **Uh, I forgot how easily tired baby vampires get" he said with some humor in his voice "use your senses love you, your ears should be able to pick up the sounds, we're close enough".**

 **She scoffed "what is this baby vampire training cour-"**

 **Her words were cut off when the sound of water crashing caught her attention "I hear it"**

 **Moving towards the water's direction she almost crashed into the Klaus and she frowned as he blocked her way, his face completely emotionless.**

" **What?" she asked incredulously.**

" **oh come on now love, you don't think I will let you go all by yourself, do you?"**

 **She groaned impatiently "I won't run away, if that's what you're worried about".**

" **Yes, of course proven by your less than entertaining attempts, last week".**

" **I thought my attempts were "amusing", what happened?" Caroline mockingly asked but then sighed "look, I am not going to escape" She looked into his eyes to let him see her honesty.**

" **This time" She couldn't help but add cheekily.**

 **Her eyes faintly caught a little curve of his lips before it faded quickly, she began moving again and this time Klaus didn't block her way.**

 **Though as she walked it struck her how unusual this conversation was. It had a simplicity to it even with the hostile undertones that was never there before.**

 **However she refused to think anything of it, of the complications it aroused, preferring to simply savor the freshness of the water she found. Her lips curving up from the beauty she saw.**

 **Suddenly she heard a crunching sound and before she could find what the source was or even move, darkness enveloped her.**

 ***flashback***

They should have thought about their plan better, if she may say so, because _now_ they released something they had never seen before.

* * *

 _so this is it for the first part. Was there a specific moment you enjoyed? a theme? which situation did you like best?_

 _please don't hesitate to tell me what you think as your reviews mean very much to me._

 _love, Me 3_


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm baaaack! With a hopefully entertaining update. I do apologise for my lateness but I didn't have any inspiration and I wouldn't risk doing anything but my absolute best for this particular piece.**

 **A big thank you from me to garglyswoof for her incredible beta efforts and wonderful encouragements, she's a lovely human being who deserves all the love.**

 **Also I have been nominated in the klaroline awards as best underrated writer- and OMG GUYS, IF ANYONE FROM HERE NOMINATED ME THANK YOU SO MUCH- along with best new blog and best aesthetic graphics maker. Pretty cool. Make sure to vote for your faves, there's still a week left for the voting time to close and if anyone doesn't know where to do so, check out the (klarolineawards) blog on tumblr, you'll find it there**

* * *

She once had the perfect life.

Parents that loved her, friends that cared for her, beauty, talent.

It was as magical as one of these fairytales she so deeply cherished.

But then the fights started, the shouting and the screaming, endless nights with more endless arguments. Her parents divorced and so instead of having one home to look forward to, she had two to choose between.

Even her friendships did not last long. Where once she, Bonnie and Elena were closer than ever, they gradually grew estranged until it was her and them.

Everything she once had shattered and fell apart.

And her perfect life was no more.

* * *

Confusion, such a devious little thing.

It's a dangerous opponent, one that never attacks with force.

It knows better than that.

And when she wakes up, floats away from that abyss of darkness that swallowed her, wrists bound above her head, body weak and gums aching, it sets to fulfill its task dutifully.

With tingles of buzzing burning in her head, she tries to move around, searching for any way of escape but her shackles restrain her, iron digging into her skin, intensifying her pain tenfold.

She feels shots of fire moving around in her - vervain, she deduces, and briefly she wonders if this is Klaus's work but quickly pushes that thought afar.

He prefers another way, at least with her, those little rounds of pushing and pulling are more their style.

She does not know how long she attempts to stay awake but whoever did this will pay, the feral part of her decides, as fatigueness wins and she slips out of consciousness.

* * *

She doesn't know how she should feel.

Betrayed, sad, perhaps anguished?

It all blurs and none of these little details matter. Not when the jet-haired monster in front of her smiles sadistically at her pain.

The horrifying beast with those black eyes and spider-like veins that on more than one occasion tormented her endlessly whether awake or in her sleep.

"It's nothing personal, Caroline," he whispers. "You're just collateral damage." He shrugs like it doesn't matter.

And it is with another laboured breath that she welcomes her abyss of darkness.

* * *

Revenge is a dish best served cold, she once heard.

But oh how wrong they were.

Revenge is the threat of fire and blood hidden beneath sweet blue eyes and fragile smiles.

With each inch of wood buried inside of her, she contemplates all the ways Damon Salvatore will die.

She decides she'll start with the eyes, peel those lids off and rip the balls from their rotten confines. Maybe she'll find out if indeed does the vampire healing only goes so far.

Then, she growls as a piece of wood scratches the bottom of her ribs, she'll rip his organs out alphabetically, see how much the pieces of flesh resemble that of an animal.

"I hope you're having fun, blondie" that disgusting voice taunts, "wouldn't want you to miss out on it".

Oh, she **won't**.

* * *

She's proud to say that she's not particularly surprised when none other than Stefan Salvatore walks through the door of her unknown prison.

Not particularly fazed when all that meets her eyes is various shades of guilt that she has no interest in.

'Coward' her monster snarls at the patheticness it feels and the girl inside her her purrs at it, pets it with perfectly manicured nails and a saucy grin on her face.

She wonders how much that patheticness and pity will shift into unadulterated fear when they discover that beauty **is** the beast.

* * *

'The place is a mess' the girl inside her notes, now that the blood on the walls had dried, her monster meowing in contentment as it licks the marrow from its paws.

And, well, it really is.

Door ripped off from its hinges and bits of wood littering the floor, the phantom of the screams that had occupied the room lingering in the air.

Klaus had not taken much time to locate her; she hasn't settled on whether it was because he didn't like anyone messing with her or because he cared.

But he had ripped the room in pieces, snapping the Salvatores' necks and breaking her chains until they were no more than specks of dust.

He had made quick work of them, laying their bodies down and tying them in positions that would make someone wish for death.

"Medieval age has its perks." he had said jokingly.

However, when it became clear that their one way trip to death would begin, and that Damon would be the first, she had sped in front of him, the beauty of her beast on full display, her monster snarling and claiming that death be by her.

It was only fitting that the prey turned monster ended the once predator.

* * *

'Oh Mystic Falls, still as boring as ever, be it last month, five or a year'

She sighs as she takes in the people she knows, or used to, with their normal lives and their normal families and their not-so-normal town secret.

When Bonnie opens the door, she is shocked and relieved, immediately enveloping her in a hug, and as Caroline tentatively wraps her arms around her friend, Damon's words still echo in her mind.

*flashback*

"Oops, my bad," he muttered unapologetically as he stepped on her foot, the bone crushing under it like paper, a pained scream chokes its way out of her.

"I just need you weak and teary-eyed" Damon said, inspecting the damage he's done. "The former for a spell, the latter for my own amusement".

"A spell?" she panted.

"Yep," he popped the 'p', "courtesy of Bon Bon's witchy juju."

"Bonnie would never." Her breathing became shallower and for a moment she panicked, thinking she would collapse.

"You're right she wouldn't, which is why I didn't tell her that one of these potions is for you."

*flashback*

* * *

She doesn't bother to tell them the full story, keeps it light, or as light as she can.

Their pity is of no use to her. And she knows by the shocked looks on their faces now that if she did tell, the only thing that would follow would be a chorus of 'I'm sorries'.

Didn't she say that the only things that she gets in the end are words?

And all while she relays the news of the Salvatore's demise, Klaus, the ever-present watcher, keeps an eye on her from the outside as the meeting between the once friends occurs. His eyes never once stray from her, his dangerous aura reminding the humans in the room of the price they'd pay should they cross him.

But when Bonnie tries to make her stay, it's not him that tears her hands away, no it's her that does, the pretty girl, Miss Mystic Falls.

She once wondered if she could be as Klaus - both monster and man - and she discovers she'd like to try.

It has been so long since she felt as alive as she had with blood under her fingernails and a hybrid on her arm.

And hey if she'd stolen a kiss or two in between he didn't seem to complain.

* * *

*flashback*

"Why?" she asked, and maybe it was fruitless, but if she was to die then she deserved to know the reason.

"You're Klaus's little pet now," he sneered. "So even if we did let you go, you would go back straight to your master."

She screamed as the stake engulfed in her broke through the rib bones.

"I am so sorry, Care," Stefan murmured. He didn't even have the decency to look her in the eye, and all she could do keep from spitting at him was to bite her lips.

Stefan seemed to understand from her body language and he stuttered, brain latching onto any words that could make this better. "But-but Klaus, he is looking for a way to make hybrids and he needs Elena's blood for it."

Out of her peripheral vision she spotted a shadow moving behind them, the movement so silent she wondered if it was real.

A familiar scent assaulted her nose, and ironically her shoulders sagged with relief.

But Stefan's words did not escape her attention and her head turned to face him, allowing a horrified expression settling on her face.

"Klaus needs Elena's blood?"

Stefan nodded, mouth open about to say more but Damon cut him off with a groan. "You weren't supposed to spill that, idiot."

The extremely satisfied look on Klaus's face in the shadows said it all, the damage was already done.

*flashback*

* * *

"You know, you still haven't told me why you want hybrids so much," she says as she watches Klaus stocking the various blood bags in the fridge, and for the first time not looking as tormented as he did before.

A rasped chuckle comes out of him as her question registers. "Still not letting that go are you, love."

She nods "I deserve to know."

He doesn't reply, letting the nothingness settle in between them, his back tense, though not uncomfortably so, as he seemingly ponders on how to answer. For a moment she's convinced he'll rebuff her attempts at conversation, signalling the end of the rare civility they've managed to establish.

"Being on your own is no fun, I assure you, Caroline," he says. "Do you know what a wolf craves the most?"

"Loyalty?"

"Yes. And belonging to a pack."

"That's why you want to turn hybrids," she whispers, understanding dawning on her. "I'll help you," she says as he turns to the other side of the room, his muscles tensing at her unexpected words.

He raises his eyebrows at her, eyes calculating her every single move, every single expression and although she tries she can't help but add a vexingly coy remark.

"With a few conditions."

* * *

She smiles as yet another werewolf accepts the vial full of Elena's doppelganger blood, cringing inwardly as his screams tear through the forest. Tentatively, one of his female friends steps forward, offering him a hand and helping him lift himself off the ground.

Klaus's satisfied smirk can't get any deeper as he takes in his success, and she watches as all the freshly-turned hybrids gather around him, their inner wolves submitting to the alpha in their presence.

They dance and party and celebrate the gift of their freedom, animals unbound through the night.

Her eyes shift to Klaus's, and although he doesn't say it -she suspects he never will - she feels the gratitude for her advice rolling off him, the gesture confirmed by the deep blue she spots full of uncharacteristic warmth.

"To the pack," he cheers with his fellow wolves, glasses full of wine beckoning her to step forward and join him in his victory, but she softly declines, preferring to stay in the shadows for a while and watches the camp cheers enthusiastically.

And when no one sees, he raises his glass in a silent toast.

 **To us**.

* * *

This is it, she thinks, she has evolved, chained down no longer. No one can hold her anymore. She is no longer a tool in anyone's games, she's something everyone strives to be in this world. A perfect balance, of monsters and men.

* * *

 **For now this is it with this story, I accept requests for outtakes on my tumblr blog (which you can find in my profile), and if you have any questions please do tell (preferably on my blog as this is where I'm most frequent).**

 **Please don't hesitate to tell me what you thought, whether it's positive commentary or constructive criticism, I am really excited to read your reviews :)**

 **Happy reading everyone**


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